VS Level 3 Conversion - Temp & Fuel Guage Problem

[HamaTime™]

Stupid car, got me stumped. Went to start it this evening, haven't driven it for 24+ hours and turn it on, temperature warning light chimes on (gauge needle reads full cold) and fuel gauge needle reads no gas or fuel (yet warning light/chime doesn't come on... Other than that it started fine and drove fine...

[Wombles]

Fuel would be the common vs fault of sticky needle.
Temp, id look into the temp sensor.

[petergl67]

How long was the car on before the temp went all the way up and did ur themo fans turn on. Like the other bloke said could just be sensor. How long has it been since ur thermostat was done just to be on the safe side

[HamaTime™]

How long was the car on before the temp went all the way up and did ur themo fans turn on. Like the other bloke said could just be sensor. How long has it been since ur thermostat was done just to be on the safe side

Turned car on, immediately the warning light came on, car was completely cold, hadn't been on for over 24 hours... Needle showed dead cold, obviously.

Thermostat was replaced February last year.. Water pump replaced and coolant flush on Monday.. If it was the sensor, why would the needle not show hot??

(car has recently had a Level 3 Dash conversion)

Fuel gauge also has me stumped ...

[Pub247]

mine lvl 3 does this sometimes when car get up to temp needle works again and it goes away suggests sticky needle or faulty sensor

[HamaTime™]

Hmm yeah, I think I'll do the sensor just to be safe.. Nfi about the fuel though

[HamaTime™]

Hi Guys

Hoping someone could clear up a few things. I've got the common problem of my temp and fuel guages not working (car is a VR Senator). I've searched through past posts and did the re-solder of the capacitor and bad luck for me it didn't work. Now before I throw the whole cluster in the bin and go out and get another one I just wanted to clear something up. Basically, besides the fact that my temp and fuel guage don't work I also get the coolant temp warning light coming on (with the associated beeps) however the car isn't running hot. So is this related to the guage cluster problem or do I have a bigger problem on my hands. I've been tearing my hair out on this problem - I've also changed the single wire temp sensor but that did nothing, could I also have a problem with my 2 wire temp sensor that goes to the ecu? The car now has the tendency to idle bad when warming (but this comes and goes) Also, I've checked the ecu for error codes - none come up

any ideas?

Thanks

I found this searching through the forum....Unfortunately no one replied to him, so that wasn't much help...

Same problem as me...hard to start (revs were a bit inconsistent, after about 5 seconds it stabilised) Temp warning light (and associated chime) comes on, fuel needle stays dead empty (low fuel warning light/chime does not come on) and temp needle stays dead cold...

Ok so I have checked the connections at the back (1,2,3,4) and they are all in fairly tight. All fuses are fine...

I'm now doubting it's a temp sensor (based on above quote) I think it's Cluster related....

Any suggestions guys?

Thanks for the help so far.

[88GreenVN]

If the temp warning chime is sounding then the trip computer is responding to "no signal" from the sensor. This can be a broken track on the cluster PCB, wire off the sensor - or not making contact.

Dead fuel and temp gauges are normally the votage regulator.

[HamaTime™]

If the temp warning chime is sounding then the trip computer is responding to "no signal" from the sensor. This can be a broken track on the cluster PCB, wire off the sensor - or not making contact.

Dead fuel and temp gauges are normally the votage regulator.

Thanks 88,

After discussions with yourself and some reading, and a bit of 'dash bashing' and checking cluster connections (1,2,3,4) I'm going to pull the Voltage Regulator out tonight and give it a once over.

If I find the problem I'll report back to you guys and depending on how I go I may write up a how to on it.

[Reaper]

If the temp warning chime is sounding then the trip computer is responding to "no signal" from the sensor. This can be a broken track on the cluster PCB, wire off the sensor - or not making contact.

Dead fuel and temp gauges are normally the votage regulator.

Dodgy supplier???

Reaper

[nathanVY]

What would we do without 88GreenVN. Helped so many of us out.

So glad my car came with one of these standard

[88GreenVN]

run the cluster in diag mode and see what voltage you are getting to the trip computer. If no voltage (between 4.4v and 10.4v approx) from the fuel sender then the fault is probably not the gauge itself. Now that the L2 tested OK it's the PCB or the voltage regulator that has died.

Go back over every solder joint as a last ditch effort to get it working and inspect the PCB for damage (unlikely to just die over night in the car) but a possiblity I guess.

[HamaTime™]

run the cluster in diag mode and see what voltage you are getting to the trip computer. If no voltage (between 4.4v and 10.4v approx) from the fuel sender then the fault is probably not the gauge itself. Now that the L2 tested OK it's the PCB or the voltage regulator that has died.

Go back over every solder joint as a last ditch effort to get it working and inspect the PCB for damage (unlikely to just die over night in the car) but a possiblity I guess.

To put this into context for those who may have the same issue in future:

I put the L2 cluster back in and problem was solved initially, gauges worked as normal.

L3 Still seems to have an electrical fault somewhere as when put back in, problem re-occurred.

In the mean time, I'm trying to ascertain whether or not the rough starting issue is related to the cluster, anyone shed any light on this? The only correlation is that it has only started starting roughly since this cluster problem occurred....before that it would start cleanly and perfectly every time. Annoying how quickly these issues just spring up.

After discussions with 88, the PCB/Voltage Regulator seem to have the problem (as above)

This is the PCB/V-R after my first attemp to get it working (dabbing the solder joints)